As more and more vehicles are equipped with supplemental inflatable restraint (SIR) systems, other vehicle components have been modified to accommodate the use of such systems. For example, most passenger side SIR systems are disposed within and behind an instrument panel, which extends across the width of a vehicle compartment. During assembly, a conventional instrument panel in a vehicle having a passenger side SIR system requires a discrete door which covers an opening formed in the instrument panel for the air bag cushion to deploy through upon actuation of the SIR system. This separate door is designed to open in response to the force of the expanding air bag cushion. In other words as the pressure in the air bag cushion increases, a force is generated and as the air bag cushion deploys at this force, the door selectively separates from the remaining portion of the module and the instrument panel as the air bag cushion deploys.
Typically, the manufacture of the conventional instrument panel involves forming an opening in the instrument panel adjacent to the SIR system. This opening is then covered by a separate door, which is secured to the instrument panel and faces the occupants of the vehicle. Thus, the instrument panel itself is manufactured in view of the shape and size of the door and the door is separately manufactured and installed within the opening in the instrument panel.
Several drop-in-module systems employ a self adjusting cover used to improve the fit between the instrument panel and the passenger airbag cover, by allowing the module canister to self adjust and absorb any tolerance stack between the instrument panel and the air bag module assembly. Most non-self adjusting panel cover systems allow the tolerance stack to deteriorate the nominal fit between the panel cover and instrument panel, thus causing potential customer dissatisfaction of the interface between the cover and instrument panel.
Current self adjusting cover designs have a door cover size physically larger than a nonfloating door cover because the self adjusting cover incorporates “snap” features that extend beyond a periphery of the instrument panel opening. To ensure a good fit between the cover and instrument panel, several snap features are required. However, as the number of snap features increase, the installation and removal efforts of the cover increase.
Accordingly, it is desired to have a good fit between the cover and instrument panel that is aesthetically pleasing without increasing the installation and removal efforts, as well as the size, of the cover.